News UN General Assembly Third Committee adopts by consensus the Resolution on the “Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity” tabled by Greece.UN General Assembly Third Committee adopts by consensus the Resolution on the “Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity” tabled by Greece.
On November 19, the Third Committee of the ongoing 74th Session of the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the Resolution on the “Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity”, which has been submitted biannually by Greece and a core group of countries (Argentina, Austria, Costa Rica, France, Tunisia) since 2013.
The Resolution was co-sponsored by a large number of states from all geographical groups, that is to say 106 UN members, tantamount to 18 additional cosponsors in comparison to the previous one adopted in 2017.
The Resolution is based on the recent Report by the UN Secretary General on the “Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity” (Α/74/314), including newly introduced provisions on: a) the important role of national human rights institutions in promoting and protecting the right to freedom of opinion and expression and in addressing human rights violations and abuses against journalists, b) the need to develop and implement effectively legal frameworks and measures for the protection of journalists and media workers, c) the need to accelerate gender mainstreaming in the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, d) the unequivocal condemnation of specific attacks on women journalists and media workers in relation to their work, such as gender-based discrimination and violence, including online and offline sexual harassment, e) the duty of political leaders, public officials and authorities to refrain from denigrating, intimidating or threatening the media, individual journalists and media workers, specifically women, f) the duty of states to ensure that defamation and libel laws are not misused, as well as g) the important contribution of the promotion and protection of the safety of journalists in the realization of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, in particular target 16.10.
